Colin Clarke reviews Jonah Kim and Robert Koenig’s Approaching Autumn release featuring Grieg, Kodály, and Mark Abel in Fanfare Magazine:

“This disc, titled Approaching Autumn, is a real statement from the heart for Korean-born cellist Jonah Kim… his aim is to find “common areas” between people(s) and to learn “what we all actually care about.” Beauty is certainly one of those shared things, with art and music providing a bridge. … Kim is a student of the great János Starker, and indeed played the Kodály to him (in fact, their first meeting was on the set of Starker’s own recording of this piece). With Kim, the central Adagio con gran expressione becomes a powerful odyssey as well as a tour de force: His high register is spectacularly in tune and confident. … Throughout, the glue that holds this together is Kim’s sure rhythmic sense and ability to see the woods from the trees. The recording is perfect for solo cello. Involving but non-invasive would perhaps sum it up best. The performance is in the lineage of Starker and Perényi, but remains a highly individual statement. … Back in Fanfare 44:1, I enjoyed interviewing composer Mark Abel over another Delos release, The Cave of Wondrous Voice. Here we have Approaching Autumn for cello and piano, a piece at once atmospheric and magical. The “magical” part is interesting. Abel celebrates the liminal nature of autumn as a stage between bright summer and dark winter, and the music oscillates between joy and rumination; he also celebrates the turning of summer into autumn. Abel’s music is, I suspect, deceptively difficult to perform. The surface is relatively simple, but success requires the sort of chamber music telepathy that Kim and Koenig show here.… All three composers on this disc have a real voice, and Grieg’s is highly individual and rooted in the music of his home country. All credit is due to Robert Koenig’s contribution here, though: strong and perfectly judged (he is not mentioned on the front cover of the disc at all, which seems a touch unfair). The rapt central Andante molto tranquillo is a song-like dream rising to a radiant climax, with Kim’s generous phrasing speaking from the heart. The extensive finale finds Kim and Koenig capturing the spirit of the dance perfectly, while plateaux of nostalgic beauty pucker the surface. The dance-like sections of the finale are absolutely delightful… Taken as a recital program, this disc has few peers: it is, at heart, a celebration of the cello as well as the changing of the seasons.”

—Colin Clarke, Fanfare

Full review available to subscribers at FanfareArchive.com

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